Did you hear the one about the Russian sailor who lost his
arm at sea?
Now you can, after a transcript was released under the
Official Information Act, revealing how a Ministry of
Fisheries observer's April Fool's Day prank almost sparked a
full-scale search and rescue operation last month.
Aboard a trawler in subantarctic waters, the observer decided
to play a prank on his superiors by faxing the following
message on March 31: "Me again. We had a rather gruesome
catch in tonight's shot. The remains of a human arm. It has
been taken off below the elbow and it is not a clean cut.
Yuk. It hasn't been in the water for very long, and I was
wondering if any of the Russian boats has had an accident.
The captain has been on the radio to the Korean vessels and
none of them have had any accidents, so I'm guessing it's off
a Russian. It is in the hold with the birds so let me know
what you want me to do with it. Cheers."
At 10.09am on April 1, the ministry emailed a message to the
vessel informing them "we are working with the appropriate
people as we speak" - and requested more information
regarding the gruesome discovery.
The ministry also informed police, who were preparing a
full-scale search and rescue operation to the Auckland
Islands, almost 500km south of Bluff.
Realising his message was being treated seriously, the man
faxed back an apology for "my ill-advised April Fool's
prank".
"Had I thought it would have been taken seriously I would
never have done it."
As part of his apology, the man revealed he played "the same
joke" on a former Ministry of Fisheries employee five years
ago.
Informed of the hoax, the police gave the man a warning when
the vessel docked at Lyttelton on April 7, with the ministry
taking staff disciplinary action against the observer.
- hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.